


take care

by casdoms (moffwithhishead)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Human Castiel, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-12 10:14:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3352808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moffwithhishead/pseuds/casdoms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>So he sits and he waits for the tea to take effect, hoping that it will be that simple. That he'll just flop down onto the counter like a cartoon character, the over exaggerated 'boink' noise and everything. </p><p>Dean's voice interrupts the silence and Cas isn't sure how long it's been.</p><p>"Cas?" He croaks from the doorway, his voice rough and thick from sleep, "What's up?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	take care

**Author's Note:**

> I literally wrote this last night as I was almost passing out while typing it.

Castiel bolts up in bed breathing hard and sweating all over.

He feels like he just ran a marathon or ran the entire length of a farm to avoid being eaten by a vampire. Even his legs ache and he wonders briefly if the entire bunker can hear how hard his heart is beating in his borrowed chest. 

He sighs tiredly and swings his feet so they're resting on the floor next to the bed, his head falling into his hands. 

Being human  _sucks_. 

"Babe," Dean's quiet voice interrupts him with a gentle hand on his lower back, "Cas, come back to bed."

He grunts quietly and shoves Dean's hand off before standing up and heading down towards the kitchen.

It's not always this bad but when it is, Cas needs something to do with his hands or he'll go crazy. He needs to make a cup of tea or write something or make himself a snack - just  _anything_  to get his mind off of the nightmares. 

So he gets out a mug and a bag of tea and starts making something for himself.

Hopefully it'll knock him right out and he'll be so tired that Dean will come into the kitchen in the morning and find a passed out Cas sound asleep at the kitchen table. 

The tea is luke warm once he adds the milk to it, but it's fine, it'll do.

The barstool in the kitchen is uncomfortable but he doesn't want to sit in the library, doesn't want all of those books taunting him. 

His eyes drift up to the doorway separating him from the walls and walls of books that could've helped him, books that could've stopped Metatron and saved Dean quicker.

So he sits and he waits for the tea to take effect, hoping that it will be that simple. That he'll just flop down onto the counter like a cartoon character, the over exaggerated 'boink' noise and everything. 

Dean's voice interrupts the silence and Cas isn't sure how long it's been.

"Cas?" He croaks from the doorway, his voice rough and thick from sleep, "What's up?"

The other man shuffles his way over to Cas and pulls up the barstool next to him, not so much sitting on it as leaning against it awkwardly. 

His boxers ride up in a way that has to be uncomfortable and Dean looks so tired and grumpy with his ruffled hair and extreme pout that it almost makes Cas laugh out loud. 

"You okay?" 

Castiel sighs and looks down at his tea with a small frown, "This tea is not working as well as I had been hoping it would." 

Dean snorts, "Yeah, well, tea ain't all it's cracked up to be."

He waits a beat before reaching forward and setting his hands on Cas' thighs, "Cas, buddy..." Dean sighs tiredly and squeezes the flesh gently, "You know if you wanna talk about it, I'm - well. I can't say I'd be  _thrilled_  to listen, but, you know. I'll listen if you want me to." 

And it's true, as true as anyone is ever going to get.

It's not that Dean doesn't want to know, Cas knows he does, he just knows that part of the reason the other man avoids emotional vulnerability is because if it's coming from someone he loves, and he  _can't_  fix it? It creates a whole new host of problems for Dean. 

Cas smiles tiredly and sets his tea down before squeezing Dean's hands, "I'll be okay, Dean. Thank you." 

He nods but doesn't move back. He just steps up off of the stool and moves in between the v of Cas' legs.

It's cramped and a little awkward with the stool in between the two of them, but Dean leans forward and rests his face in Cas' neck, his hands moving to wrap around his waist. 

"Come back to bed, Cas." 

His voice sounds so quiet and so raw that it makes his chest ache.

"Let me take care of you." 

Castiel lets out a breath of air and leans forward, hooking his chin over Dean's shoulder as he murmurs, "I'm a grown man, Dean. I'm older than you can comprehend. I am fairly certain I can take care of myself after a nightmare." 

Dean pulls back abruptly and rests their foreheads together, his eyes exhausted, "I know that, Cas. And I'm not saying you can't... I'm just saying I'd like to help you." 

It's so simple, so sincere. So very muchly not a typical Dean Winchester behavior that it catches Cas off guard.

He shouldn't say yes. There are a thousand reasons for why he shouldn't say yes.

"Okay," he hears himself breathe out nervously. 

Dean smiles and leans forward, kissing the tip of Cas' nose, "Okay." 

Then they're walking back towards their bedroom with Cas' hand in Dean's. 

When they're next to the bed, Dean pulls Cas' PJ pants off gently and helps him lay down on the bed. He takes all of thirty seconds before he's crawling in too, scooting back enough so that his back is pressed against Cas' chest. 

He pulls one of Cas' arms tight around his front and laces their fingers together with a quiet yawn, "Good night, baby." 

Cas is a little bit bewildered by the sudden change of events but he nods and pulls Dean closer on instinct, burying his nose into the hair at the nape of his neck.

"Good night, Dean." 

It's the best he's slept in months.


End file.
